February 23, 2010
By Pat McCaughan

Three churches, three different sizes, with three distinct cultures, within 25 miles of each other have formed a consortium unique within the Diocese of San Diego, sharing resources and strengthening mission, vitality and the area's Episcopal identity.

Called the Episcopal Ministries of Temecula and Menifee Valleys, the possibility for the joint ministry arose after St. Thomas of Canterbury Church dedicated its new sanctuary in fast-growing Temecula six months ago, according to the Rev. Robert Nagy, vicar.

"We're the first church built in the diocese" within the last ten years, Nagy said during a recent interview.

The church's weekday preschool has doubled in size since the church moved from its former rented storefront in a shopping center to the 17,000 square foot Spanish style building six months ago.

And while location is a contributing factor, Nagy also credited the congregation's liturgy, hospitality and programs as reasons for the additional growth. "We had 60 people join the church in 2009," raising the number of baptized members to about 450 and average Sunday attendance to 175, he said.

"Inside, we looked like a church but the outside had outlived its usefulness," he said of the former location. "We hadn't physically outgrown the place but emotionally we had. When visitors came and saw us in the shopping center, their countenance fell. Nobody wants to have their child baptized in a place that will be a produce stand in the future."

He estimated that, for "every one person that crossed the threshold in the old facilities, there were another eight or nine who weren't able to do it."

Lew Wood, 81, a cradle Episcopalian and St. Thomas parishioner, recalled "first visioning a church of our own. And now we are where we want to be. We look like a church and are attracting more people."

Although not a regular St. Thomas Sunday worshipper, Jennifer Alcazar said she was drawn to mid-week offerings, including classes, Benedictine meditations and Eucharist that "are like a pilgrimage on Wednesday nights, a weekly retreat and tools for us to faithfully live out the Gospel, to be faithful followers of the Lord."

Alcazar, 41, said she hopes others will discover "this jewel in Temecula" where the population has quadrupled in the last 30 years, from about 25,000 in 1980 to an estimated 100,000 currently.

St. Thomas's move prompted Bishop Jim Mathes to envision "greater cooperation" between the Temecula congregation and St. Andrew's in nearby Lake Elsinore, and St. Stephen's in Sun City, located roughly 60 miles north of San Diego.

"It just made sense to start doing some more intentional connecting of those three missions to be one church in three locations in the same way the diocese is one church in many locations," he said in a Feb. 23 phone interview from his San Diego office.

The churches share administrative functions, which is "economically wise and … allows them to have a greater local profile in each of their three communities," Mathes added.

Nagy oversees the three congregations, aided by the Rev. Charles Rines, vicar of St. Stephen's, Sun City, and two other retired priests who share duties in Lake Elsinore.

"We're not trying to make the other two a clone of St. Thomas," Rines said. "There's a diversity among the three … with a common mission, a common goal," he said. "Our mission isn't just to get other people for Sunday morning. The consortium will strengthen our sense of having a mission in the community, of serving the community's needs. There's a lot to do."

Participating in the consortium was an "experiment" for St. Stephen's, located in a retirement community. "We're in a period of change and opportunity," said Rines. "We have a large preschool, which makes it very interesting, especially since we need to build a preschool building."

The church has grown modestly in the year since Rines arrived, by about 10 people, for an average Sunday attendance of 30, he said. But at 49 the preschool is at capacity with a waiting list of a dozen youngsters. The church hopes to acquire a used portable classroom to accommodate additional students.

Susan Tartaglia, senior warden at St. Andrew's Church in Lake Elsinore, said so far the consortium ahs been "a wonderful experience and so far has been a wonderful experiment. We're not quite sure how it will all play out in the future, but it feels very solid, it's given us all a strength of purpose."

The Rev. Juan Acosta and the Rev. Ben Orozco take turns leading St. Andrew's Spanish and English language services. Tartaglia said average Sunday attendance at St. Andrew's ranges between 85 and 100, and the consortium has helped strengthen the congregation.

For Tartaglia, the consortium equals three times the resources. "We share everything. We are able to help each other, whether in outreach, or shared times together, services together, personnel, exchange of ministry, resources, too many to even mention.

"Each one of us in our locations has something special to offer. By pooling our resources it has given us so much more to work with and so much more support and strength. It has energized all three of us."

She said members of the other consortium congregations turned out to help with the Thanksgiving meal St. Andrew's traditionally cooked for the homeless. The churches also arrange midweek services so as not to overlap or duplicate efforts. Similar efforts are being planned to avoid duplication for upcoming Easter and Holy Week services and so larger crowds can worship together.

"Being at the very tip of the diocese, at the far end as we are, it's easy to feel that we're not always included," Tartaglia said. "For years, we have felt a little left out at times, especially being a small church in a community very far away from the diocesan headquarters.

"I didn't always feel a part of what was going on but that has very much changed. We're very grateful to Bishop Mathes for trying something like this as a way of giving us strength in numbers. Transitions are always difficult but this has been very rewarding and filled with a lot of promise."

Mathes said the consortium is about "coming together to do more excellent ministry, not less ministry.

"My enthusiasm for the ministry in these three locations is immense," he said. "I think this is going to be a catalyst for the Episcopal Church growing and doing excellent ministry in that part of the diocese. I would imagine that increasingly St. Thomas, St. Andrew's and St. Stephen's will become legendary on the community grapevine in that area for their ministry.

He added that he feels "very positive right now" about the growth and vitality of the church. "The presiding bishop was right [in her opening sermon to General Convention 2009 in Anaheim]; the heartbeat of the church is mission."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Pat McCaughan is an Episcopal News Service correspondent.